New Delhi, Aug 31 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today lauded the Pratibha Setu digital portal, describing it as a meaningful intervention aimed at supporting thousands of union Public Service Commission (UPSC) aspirants who, despite clearing all stages of the examination, fall just short of the final merit list.
In the 125th edition of his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat, Modi referred the platform as a “bridge of talent”, and said the initiative not only preserves the efforts of these candidates but also affirms their dignity by creating alternative employment pathways.
Highlighting the importance of harnessing the potential of these candidates, he said, “You must have heard the name of UPSC (Union Public Services Commission). This institution conducts the Civil Services exam, one of the toughest exams in the country. All of us have heard many inspiring stories from the toppers of the Civil Services.
“These youngsters study under difficult circumstances and through their hard work get a place in this service – but friends, there is another truth about the UPSC exam. There are thousands of such candidates who are very capable; their hard work is no less than anyone else’s, but they are unable to reach the final list by a small margin. These candidates have to prepare afresh for other exams. That costs both their time and money. That is why, now a digital platform has been created for such sincere students and its name is ‘Pratibha Setu’,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister further said, ‘Pratibha Setu’ stores the data of those candidates who cleared all the stages of various exams of UPSC, but their name did not appear in the final merit list. There is a databank of over ten thousand such bright youngsters on this portal.
“Some were preparing for civil services, some wanted to join the engineering services, others had cleared every stage of the medical services but were not finally selected – information of all such candidates is now being made available on the ‘Pratibha Setu’ portal. Through this portal, private companies can obtain information on these promising students and employ them,” he said.
Expressing satisfaction at the outcome, Modi said, “The results of this effort have also started coming in. Hundreds of candidates have got jobs immediately with the help of this portal and those youth who had got stuck by a small margin are now moving ahead with new confidence.”
According to government officials, the platform is already serving as a centralised talent pool, enabling industries and institutions to tap into a database of over 10,000 aspirants who have demonstrated academic excellence and subject mastery.
The initiative, the officials said, aims to bridge the gap between potential and opportunity by ensuring that the hard work of aspirants does not go in vain. What sets this portal apart is that it transforms a passive disclosure model into an interactive recruitment bridge.
While earlier the UPSC published candidate data on its website, the revamped platform allows recruiters to log in and reach out to shortlisted candidates directly. The programme excludes exams such as NDA, NA and select departmental competitions, but covers a wide spectrum of competitive examinations with rigorous assessment processes, said the official.
